PayPal apologises for telling widower his wife’s death was a breach of its rules

PayPal has been forced to apologise after it sent a letter to a UK woman who had died of cancer, claiming her death breached its credit rules.

PayPal – which is owned by eBay – has admitted the automated letter addressed to Lindsay Durdle of West Berkshire, England, was “insensitive”, the BBC reports.

It has apologised to Ms Durdle’s widower, Howard, and is now investigating how the letter was sent. Ms Durdle died on May 31 from breast cancer. She was 37.

She was first diagnosed with the disease a year-and-a-half ago, with the cancer later spreading to her lungs and brains.

Mr Durdle told the BBC he informed PayPal of his wife’s death three weeks ago – providing the tech giant with copies of her death certificate, her will and his ID.

PayPal has apologised to a widower after it sent a letter to his deceased wife claiming her death was a breach of its credit rules (Facebook). (Facebook)

Despite this, he received a letter addressed to his wife which said his wife owed PayPal about £3,200 ($5,685.80). it also said Ms Durdle was “in breach” of one of PayPal Credit’s agreement.

“You are in breach of condition 15.4(c) of your agreement with PayPal Credit as we received notice that you are deceased…this breach is not capable of remedy,” the letter, which the BBC posted a portion online, said.

"We apologise to Mr Durdle for the distress this letter has caused," a spokesperson told the BBC.

"We are urgently looking into this matter, and are in direct contact with Mr Durdle to support him."

PayPal has waived the repayment of Ms Durdle’s debt.

Mr Durdle said he contacted the BBC to raise awareness about how automated messages could be distressing for some. He hopes companies learn from his tragic experience.

"I'm in a reasonable place at the moment - I've got quite a level head on my shoulders - and am quite capable of dealing with paperwork like this," he said.

"But I'm a member of the charity Widowed and Young, and I've seen first-hand in there how a letter like this or something like it can completely derail somebody.

"If I'm going to make any fuss about this at all, it's to make sure that PayPal - or any other organisation that might do this kind of insensitive thing - recognises the damage they can cause the recently bereaved."